


Scars;Healing

by carmypen



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! Zexal
Genre: Angst, Foilshipping, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Negativeshipping, Positiveshipping - Freeform, Post-Canon, Vector going through post-redemption angst, Zexal Month, Zexal Month 2020, but it's fairly low key, emotional navel gazing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-19
Updated: 2020-08-19
Packaged: 2021-03-05 23:41:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 998
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25983781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/carmypen/pseuds/carmypen
Summary: Sometimes Vector doesn't feel like he belongs. Luckily, Yuma is there to lend a hand.
Relationships: Tsukumo Yuuma & Vector, Tsukumo Yuuma/Vector
Comments: 12
Kudos: 24
Collections: Zexal Month





	Scars;Healing

Vector knew it was time to leave when Nasch started smiling.

He hadn’t really wanted to go to this picnic thing anyway. He’d helped out with that whole situation in the Astral world, and it had only taught him that he was better off not participating in large group gatherings. 

But Yuma had insisted. And at least Vector was able to find some ways to have fun. Secretly mixing wasabi into the desserts had made for some interesting reactions. And “accidentally” knocking a few members of the Numbers Club into a pond had been good for a laugh. 

But then the duel disks had come out. And things had gotten considerably less enjoyable.

Yuma talked a lot about how everyone he dueled was his friend. And those were nice words, but not everyone got to live in sunshine, sparkle kattobingu land. The reality was that duels could be used to hurt people, and Vector had been good at using them to do just that. Some of it he regretted. Some of it he didn’t. But either way, watching a bunch of people he was already uncomfortable around have a good time playing duel monsters? Yeah, not really his idea of fun. 

And then Nasch and Yuma stood up to play. And that was when things went from “considerably less enjoyable” to “way, way worse.” 

Vector didn’t like Nasch. Even after everything that happened. And he didn’t think he really ever would. He had started a new tally of the times Nasch annoyed him. He didn’t have a goal number to get to. Or any kind of dramatic punishment planned. But keeping track of them still gave Vector some kind of comfort. Like if he knew for a fact that Nasch had annoyed him 2,486 times it at least made Vector feel a little more justified in not liking him.

And right now Nasch was racking up hundreds, maybe even thousands of points. Nasch and Yuma were dueling and Nasch was smiling. Like, legitimately enjoying himself and having fun smiling. Vector had always assumed the only emotions Nasch could ever articulate were scowling and more scowling. Since when did Nasch enjoy things?

And on top of that, Vector couldn’t help but feel a pang of jealousy. Partially because stupid, annoying, not-scowling Nasch was getting all chummy with the only person Vector would consider a friend, and because he could see just how good Yuma was at being a friend. He hadn’t really thought or noticed it too much when he was pretending to be Shingetsu but now he could see that Yuma was always with someone. 

He was with Kotori or Alit or Nasch or one of those Numbers Club dweebs or one of Tron’s sons. Vector couldn’t help but be jealous of Yuma’s ability to be around people so easily. He had only been able to just tolerate them before. He was too overwhelmed with the paranoid idea that everyone was out to get him, and even with that paranoia gone, Vector still couldn’t get around the idea of being with people the way Yuma could. It felt weird, like trying to stuff his foot into a shoe that didn’t fit.

Vector leaped to his feet and made his way toward the entrance of the park. It really was a nice day, maybe he could grab a ride on the train out to the surrounding mountains. Didn’t Yuma say there was some kind of duelist sanctuary up there? That sounded peaceful. Could be a good place to relax. Or possibly a place to cause a whole bunch of trouble. He’d have to figure it out when he got there.

But Vector only made it about halfway to the park entrance before he heard Yuma’s very loud footsteps racing up behind him.

“Shingetsu!” Yuma was still using that name for him. It was kind of pathetic really. “Where are you going?”

“I thought you and Nasch were in the middle of a duel,” Vector responded, purposefully ignoring the question.

“Uh well,” Yuma skidded to a stop in front of Vector. “Shark kind of….won.”

“Already? How long was the duel?”

“Two turns.”

Of course. How Yuma managed to function without Astral was anyone’s guess.

“You should come back,” Yuma said. “Kaito and V are going to duel soon.”

“I don’t belong there Yuma, you know that.”

“What are you talking about?”

Was Yuma really trying to play dumb? He had to know. Or, then again, maybe Vector should have known better than to underestimate Yuma’s stupidity.

“I don’t fit with your little friend group,” Vector said. “I’m not sure why you even invited me out here in the first place, Yuma.”

“Because you’re my friend. I want you here.”

“And it’s that simple?”

“Yeah!” Yuma smiled brightly and reached out his hand. “Why wouldn’t it be? You belong here with us. Nothin’ complicated about that.”

Vector looked down at Yuma’s outstretched hand. He felt his stomach clench as remembered, oh so vividly, the last time that hand had reached out to him. After his duel with Nasch. When Vector had thought he was invincible, only to have Don Thousand viciously knock him back to reality.

Vector had let go of Yuma’s hand then. It had been the right thing to do. And at the time he thought it was going to be the one and only good thing he’d ever do.

But for some reason, through a wisdom that Vector couldn’t really understand, Astral had brought him back. Even though he really, REALLY didn’t deserve it. 

It was a second chance. And now that Vector thought about it, standing in front of Yuma, looking at that outstretched hand. That’s what kattobingu was. It was giving yourself a second chance. And as Yuma, clearly and constantly (and loudly) demonstrated, sometimes you had to do that over and over and over again. Even when it was the last thing you wanted to do.

Vector reached out and took Yuma’s hand.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! Thank you for reading! This story was a bit of a creative accident. I found some lines I really liked in an old notebook, so I decided to take them and turn them into a little short story for Zexal Month. 
> 
> It's always nice to connect with other Zexal fans, so if you have the time, please feel free to let me know what you think. Do you like this interpretation of post-canon Vector? Either way, thank you so much for reading! :)


End file.
